Sunday, November 25, 2012

High strung

We often hear the term "high strung" in connection with Little Elvis. It's preferable to autistic and Asperger's -- two terms some people tried to stick on him when he was younger.

Now it's high strung and high maintenance. I also hear, "He'll outgrow it." and "It will get better." He's five. We've heard this since he was two. I'm not so sure it will get better. He may always be an extremely sensitive and over-emotional person. I know I was as a child, and I'm still pretty sensitive now. It sucks. And I hate for Little Elvis to experience this. But we can't seem to get him away from pitching fits.

We've had to leave several birthday parties (and Thanksgiving lunch) this year with our heads ducked down while we struggled to get a screaming child into our car. Baby Plum quietly follows us, and Cheese Puff is also pretty quiet during Little Elvis' fits.

We don't give into his demands. He spends most of the day in his room by himself after these explosions. He loses privileges, and remembers that he lost them. He doesn't like losing them, but he cannot stop himself.

He goes from happy to fit-pitching extremely quickly, and when he asks us about his super power, we often say, "Able to pitch a fit in 2 seconds flat!"

Two weeks ago, I took him to see Wreck it Ralph. I figured that since they were pushing it on Disney, and it was a family cartoon that it would be fine. Little Elvis said it was rated PG-13. I didn't even realize that. I thought the movie was good. He loved the beginning, but cried in the middle. The action was part of the problem, but the bigger problem was that the characters were hurting each other's feelings. He related so much to them that it upset him. He didn't want Ralph to hurt Vanelloppe. He was crying so loudly that I pulled him into my lap. His heart was beating so fast. He was that upset about their feelings. I had to keep whispering, "It's Disney. It will work out. He will make it up to her. I promise. It's Disney."

He was fine by the ending. He told Bob later that he liked the beginning, didn't like the middle and liked the ending. He might want to get the movie when he's 6.

That's our child. He's so sweet that he cries over the feelings of a character he's known for 30 minutes. A character that he must identify with. Ralph was expected to be bad, and no one would let him be good. And sometimes Ralph couldn't control himself.

And while he pitches huge fits over absolutely nothing, he also surprises us every day. He truly is brilliant. It's astonishing what he knows and what he's figuring out. He reads and writes very well now, and he likes math and science. He still likes the encyclopedias some, but he's moved on to my "Entertainment Weeklies." They sometimes have pictures of Captain America or zombies.

The constant questions sometimes drive me crazy. I'm not Google, but he thinks I am. The other day, I took them to Sam's for lunch by myself. I'm not usually that brave. He was asking question after question. I noticed the ladies beside us giggling, but I didn't know why. They loved all the questions he was asking, and possibly my attempts at answers.

Little Elvis also loves his brothers -- for the most part. He tries to help out some now, although it's not his first instinct. And he even poured juice for himself and Baby Plum the other day while I was stripping and sanding a door. He couldn't do the milk, and knew enough not to try. (Baby Plum does not.)

And when he accidentally lets Wally outside, he drags that huge cat back inside. It's a funny sight.

And, he notices me... sometimes. I colored my hair red, and about 2 days later he told me he really liked my new red hair. No one told him to, he just noticed and commented.

About Me

Hi! I'm currently a stay-at-home mom to Little Elvis*(5 years old) and Baby Plum* (2.5 years old) and Cheese Puff* (newborn). They keep me very busy. Thanks for visiting!
*names have been changed to protect the innocent